The Buffalo Sabres practiced on Saturday morning prior to departing for Montreal after their worst performance of the post-season in a 5-1 loss to the Canadiens on Friday night. The evening was frustrating throughout, as the Sabres fell behind early and could never seem to gain traction on the Habs, who played with desperation after struggling in a Game 1 loss.
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Buffalo’s top players were particularly wanting in the loss, as Rasmus Dahlin was beaten to the net on Alex Newhook’s second goal early in the second, and Alex Tuch was -3 on the night, but leading scorer Tage Thompson had the worst night. The Sabres center was on the ice for four of the five Canadiens goals, and his glaring turnover on Alexandre Carrier’s third-period marker essentially ended any chance of the Buffalo comeback.
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“Everything I touched turned to disaster. (it was) a tough one, we’ve got to be better.” Thompson said. “It is simple as that, we have to flush that one and move on.”
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Thompson has fizzled since scoring a pair of goals in the Sabres improbable comeback in Game 1 of the Boston series. In the seven proceeding games, the three-time 40 goal scorer has no goals and four assists, leading to the belief that he may be playing injured. When asked by WGR 550 reporter Paul Hamilton whether he was hurt, the forward was curt in his response.
“I don’t think that’s any of your business”.
Where Thompson’s struggles have really been felt is on the power play. Buffalo went 0 for 5 on Friday and are 3 for 32 in eight playoff games. Two of those goals on the man advantage were scored in Game 1 by the second unit.
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Head coach Lindy Ruff focused on the club’s ability to bounce back throughout the season, which was on display after a pair of home losses to the Bruins in the first round. The Sabres went 3-0 on the road against Boston and will hope to follow the same pattern on Sunday at the Bell Centre.
“The last time I checked the series is 1-1, and we are heading on the road and we’ve been a good road team.” Ruff said. “The whole year, we’ve answered the call. We had a couple stretches, even after our 10-game winning streak, we played a terrible game in Columbus, and we bounced back with real good hockey. So, really just reset, refocus. Let’s take the temperature down a little bit knowing that we can all be better.”
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